Brain Rules (Updated and Expanded)

2) The more closely we replicate the conditions at the moment of
learning, the easier the remembering.
In one of the most unusual experiments performed in cognitive
psychology, deep-sea divers were divided into two groups—one standing
around on dry ground wearing wet suits and the other floating in about 10
feet of water, also wearing wet suits. Both groups of divers listened to
somebody speak 40 random words. The divers then had to try to recall the
list of words. The group that heard the words while in the water got a 15
percent better score if they were asked to recall the words while back in
those same 10 feet of water, compared with standing on the beach. The
group that heard the words on the beach got a 15 percent better score if they

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were asked to recall the words while suited on the beach, compared with
floating in 10 feet of water.
Memory worked best, it appeared, if the environmental conditions at
retrieval mimicked the environmental conditions at encoding. This occurs
even under conditions where learning of any kind should be crippled, such
as when a person is under the influence of marijuana and even laughing gas
(nitrous oxide). Mood creates environmental conditions, too. Learn
something while you are sad and you will be able to recall it better if, at
retrieval, you are somehow suddenly made sad. It’s called context-
dependent or state-dependent learning. It may work because of the
following concept.
One pathway for encoding and storing
After new information is perceived and processed, it is not transferred to
some central hard drive in the brain for storage. There is no central hunting
ground where memories go to be infinitely retrieved. Instead, the same
neural pathways that the brain recruits to process new information are the
same neural pathways that the brain uses to store the information. This
means memories are distributed all over the surface of the cortex, with each
brain region making its own contribution to a memory.
This idea is so counterintuitive that it may take an urban legend to
explain it. At least, I think it’s an urban legend. I heard it at a university
administrators’ luncheon I once attended. The keynote speaker told the
story of the wiliest college president he ever encountered. The institute had
completely redone its grounds in the summer, resplendent with fountains
and beautifully manicured lawns. All that was needed was to install the
sidewalks and walkways where the students could access the buildings. But
there was no design for these permanent paths. The construction workers
were anxious to install them and wanted to know what the design would be,
but the president refused to give any. “Install them next year, please,” he
said. “I will give you the plans then.” Disgruntled but compliant, the
construction workers waited. The school year began, and the students were
forced to walk on the grass to get to their classes. Very soon, defined trails
started appearing all over campus, as well as large islands of beautiful green
lawn. By the end of the year, the buildings were connected by paths in a

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surprisingly efficient manner. “Now,” said the president to the contractors
who had waited all year, “you can install the permanent sidewalks and
pathways. Simply fill in all the paths you see before you!” The initial
design, created by the initial input, also became the permanent path.
The brain’s storage strategy is remarkably similar to the president’s
plan. New information penetrating the brain can be likened to the dirt paths
that the students created across a pristine lawn. The final storage area can
be likened to the pathways being permanently filled in with asphalt. They
are the same pathways. This is why the initial moments of learning are so
critical to retrieving that learning.
More ideas
The quality of the encoding stage—those earliest moments of learning—is
one of the single greatest predictors of later learning success. We know that
information is remembered best when it is elaborate, meaningful, and
contextual. What can we do to take advantage of that in the real world?
First, we can take a lesson from a shoe store I used to visit as a little
boy. This shoe store had a door with three handles at different heights: one
near the very top, one near the very bottom, and one in the middle. The
logic was simple: The more handles on the door, the more access points
were available for entrance, regardless of the strength or age of customer.
What a relief for a 5-year-old—a door I could actually reach! I was so
intrigued with the door that I used to dream about it. In my dreams,
however, there were hundreds of handles, all capable of opening the door to
this shoe store.
“Quality of encoding” really means the number of door handles one can
put on the entrance to a piece of information. The more handles one creates
at the moment of learning, the more likely the information is to be accessed
at a later date. The handles we can add revolve around content, timing, and
environment.